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What exercise has done for me.

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Pat Anderson asked me to be a guest blogger about fitness for over 50-year-olds on her blog. I agreed and hope you visit her and read my post on: What Exercise Has Done For Me afitnessminuteblog.com

Here’s some information about Pat Anderson

* Personal Trainer for 20 years
* National Level Competitive Bodybuilder for 10 years, winning several championships
* Prior to her personal training business, she was an Assistant Warden for the Nevada Dept. Prisons
* Produced workout video Fitness After Fifty
* Authored lowfat cookbook The Guilt-Free Gourmet
* Instructed numerous fitness and nutrition classes
* Lecturer on nutrition and fitness for various businesses and organizations
* Author of numerous articles on nutrition and fitness

If you don’t like to exercise, please tell me you’re inspired to start an exercise program now. You’ll make my day.

3) Monday is Belize Day-"Just stop by." Not used to that.

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“Just stop by,” the expats would say. So I did just that, something rarely done in Orange County especially when you hardly knew the person.

We had a new life in Belize and I needed help. Advice on schools, grocery shopping, what local Belizeans were like, where I could get a supply of fresh milk.

Carol, a French Canadian who lived in Corozal, was the only expat I knew with kids. Her front door stood wide open maximizing on sea breezes from the bay of Chetumal. Air-conditioning was non-existent in most houses. Carol invited me in for some refreshing watermelon juice. Her house was the size of a large bus and squished on the side sat a trailer they’d brought with them from Quebec. Carol told me they preferred the trailer to the house, “because it’s air-tight. Mosquitoes can’t get in, so we sleep in the trailer,” she said. I found this very strange that they’d pay for a house, yet sleep in the trailer.

Carol needed to talk just as much as I did. We sat on a couple of Mennonite chairs in her shower-size kitchen when a truck drove by and Carol knew, from the sound of the engine, this was the “Crystal” water guy. He walked straight into her kitchen and dropped off a 5 gallon plastic container of water. She searched for a coin in her soap dish container, to pay him.

Carol answered all of my questions regarding shopping and then handed me a gringo expat list of names and phone numbers for me to keep. I was amazed at how everyone helped one another here. I complained about the bug bites and Carol lifted her trim body from the kitchen chair and tiptoed to her bathroom, returning with a tin of cream she’d made herself. “What’s it made from?” I asked.
“I invented it,” she said. “I mix beeswax, olive oil and herbs. “Here,” she said, handing me the tin. “Try it. Tell me if it works.” I thanked her and spread a dollop on some swollen mounds on my legs. Carol stared, waiting to see my reaction. I smiled and told her it was a miracle cream. She wanted to market it locally, and called it her “very secret recipe.”

A guy on a scooter stopped in front of Carol’s house and honked. “It’s the mailman,” she said. She greeted him and returned holding only one letter, no junk mail. I thought how wonderful to live in a country where trees aren’t cut down and turned into junk mail. Back in California, I never bothered to look at junk mail. I hated the glossy photos of garages that looked better than many living rooms around the world. I felt embarrassed that people would need a granite-looking garage floor to park their perfectly shiny SUV or Mercedes. Who cared what the garage floor looked like, certainly not the car. I used to throw junk mail into recycling, without even looking at it.

I’d like to know where you live now and whether you can just stop by to visit? Do you have to call first, or make an appointment to visit with a friend or neighbor?

Any comments on junk mail, and whether you read it, need it, etc?

Any questions or comments you have, I shall be happy to answer on BELIZE BUZZ Wednesday, where I link your question to your blog, and answer it.

Thanks, and have a great week blogging. Enjoy life.

Do I have to fit into society’s expectations?

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After my son sent me a YouTube video, of Susan Boyle, which I’m sure you’re all familiar with by now, I questioned, “WHY DO WE HAVE TO FIT INTO SOCIETY’S EXPECTATIONS?” Listen to her sing with your eyes open and then with your eyes closed. Something dramatic happens. Would you agree?

Unfortunately, where I live now, in Orange County, California, not far from Hollywood, I would say the answer is an overwhelming YES I HAVE TO FIT IN.

You have to fit in to what society expects you to look like. If you don’t look the part, you don’t get respect or attention, or the JOB. Even I have become overly judgmental over the way people look. I’m not proud of it either, but I think I’ve been brainwashed by the U.S. media. When I look at newscasters on TV, most of them, especially the women, look like Heidi Klum and Angelina Jolie. It’s reached the point on CNN, where you stare at the face and barely listen to the words. Whenever a journalist pops up from another country and has crooked teeth, a large nose, or ears that stick out, you get distracted and have to close your eyes to “listen.” Of course that’s superficial, but I have to say it’s thanks to the unrealistic expectations that society places on everyone about youth and beauty. At least that’s the case in the U.S. Now you may understand why I felt at peace in Belize.

Every morning when I drive to Newport Beach library in an upscale neighborhood. I stand in line for my Peet’s coffee and see more beautiful women in expensive exercise outfits, women in designer suits, with freshly Botoxed and Juvedermed wrinkles and flawless skin. The sad part is many look angry and rarely smile or make eye contact.

I would be lying if I told you that I don’t look and question what procedures they’ve had done, how old they are and more. I’m sorry to say that now when I see a woman with bags under her eyes, I question why hasn’t she had them removed? I’m not proud of thinking this way. Part of me envies the woman for her courage to be different, and not so superficial. I feel very sorry for young girls, in this part of the world, where looking “perfect,” is their ultimate goal in life.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, whether you agree, and if this is mostly a U.S. phenomenon or if the same applies all over the world?

World’s Friendliest Countries-Do you live there?

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Like so many of my blogger friends, I love to travel and live the expat life, so when a new author and very close friend of mine, Kimberly Keilbach, came across this article, World’s Friendliest Countries, she knew who to send it to.

With the current economic situation in the U.S., many are heading abroad. Canada,Germany and Australia are at the top of a list of the countries most welcoming to expats. There, relocators have a relatively easy time befriending locals, joining a local community group and learning the local language.

This article is based on a survey of 2,155 expats in 48 countries, spanning four continents, between February and April 2008.

Expats were asked to rate their country in four categories:

* Their ability to befriend locals.
* The number that joined a community group.
* The number that learned the language.
* The percentage that bought property.

As far as forming friendships with locals here are the results of the survey:
Canada almost 95%
Germany, 92%
Australia 91%
United Arab Emirates only 54% of those surveyed said they’d made friends with locals.

One way to speed up integration is to join a recreational sports team or a community group. Almost half of respondents reported taking this action, with Germany leading the pack at 65%. Churches, organizations and schools provide good places to forge friendships with people who possess common interests and beliefs.

Another reason Germany scored very high is because, “it is also considered middle-of-the-road culturally,” according to Neil Payne, who works for a translation services company in the U.K. “Anyone you stop on the street can talk to you in English,” he says. What’s more, “working conditions are also very well respected and there is a nice delineation for work life and social life, which we don’t have in England.”

If you’re from England or an expat living in England, would you agree with his statement?

China, India and United Arab Emirates scored low overall because cultural differences from the West made integration difficult.

*If you’re an expat, how friendly is your country and why?

*If you’re not an expat, how friendly is your city/town/village and why?

I can’t wait to hear your comments, THANKS.

1) Belize Buzz Wednesdays

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Thanks for all your questions and interesting comments. I’d love to hear more experiences from others who have lived or perhaps just traveled around. Doesn’t have to be far, even in your own backyard. Please keep them coming. I shall answer your questions in my Wednesday Belize Buzz.

LadyFi said…

Please tell me more about driving to fetch fresh water! Was there none in the village? No pump or anything? Or did you mean drinking water?

In Consejo Shores, the first place we lived, we had the sulphur reeking water from a well. Let’s call it sh*t smelling water. The expat developer believed this water had healing powers and drank it himself, but my kids refused to take a shower in it for a week, until they stank more than the water did. We had to drive the 7 mile migrating pot-holed road to Corozal, to buy 5 gallon bottles of water for drinking and cooking.

How big was the house on stilts?

It actually had 3 bedrooms and 2 showers interconnected with long non-windowed hallways, with screens to supposedly keep the outdoor wildlife outdoors. More later.

Jientje said…

It reminded me of the butcher in France, where the butcher makes your hamburgers, grinding the beef and molding it while you’re waiting. Or if you want lamb stew, he takes a shoulder of lamb and removes the bones. I love to watch him do it!

You’re right Jientje. I almost wrote about how the Louis Vuitton butcher in Corozal, reminded me of the French butchers who take their time to cut up the meat to your liking. They seem to take pride in their work, unlike the butchers at my local Ralphs and Albertson’s supermarkets in Orange County.

Danie said…

What made you choose Belize as opposed to any other place? Please check out Danie’s book, “The Expat Arc” on her blog. I just ordered it from Amazon and love reading about her life with her husband, son and dog in Chennai, India. Lots of great color photos too.

Great question. In my travel memoir, I tell our funny story on how we were introduced to Belize, not having ever heard about the country. Since my husband isn’t gifted in languages, (unlike me, hahaha) we had to select a country where English was the main spoken language. All of Central America has Spanish as their first language except for Belize. Also the education of our 3 sons who came with us.

Miss Footloose said…

I would also love to know what made you choose Belize. And are you still there?

The answer to your first question is above. We stayed in Belize for one year. Could it have been because we missed the comforts of California, the lack of money, the humidity, or something more dramatic? I’ll let you guess. Let me just say for now, we had planned on staying for the rest of our lives. Miss Footloose, your stories sound fascinating though. How old are your kids now?


Gramma Ann said…

How did you do your laundry, because with five of you, there surely was dirty laundry? Did you go to the river and pound it clean on the rocks? LOL

Believe me from the day we moved to Belize, I learned to lighten up about laundry. I did have an ancient washing machine, underneath the hut and was worried the wooden stilts would crack and I’d end up with a hut on my back. There was no hot water, only cold, so I had to boil the water in saucepans. I shall write about the whole experience. What a story!

Lady Glamis said…

Did you get sick when you first moved there? I know that’s normal and just wondered if it took you awhile to get used to the water and different germs floating around. 🙂

I never thought of that until you brought it up. Unlike Mexico, we didn’t get sick, although there was a scary incident with my 13-year-old got hospitalized, but not for that.

Rob-bear said…

Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Belize. How long did you stay there?

One year, although that was not the original plan. There could have been many reasons why we left. What do you think?


Jacki said…

I am curious to find out about the Belize diet if the meat from the grocery stores isn’t the the most fresh. Are they mostly vegetarians?

Belizeans eat mainly chicken and fish with rice and beans. Most locals can’t afford steak. Vegetables consist mainly of onions, peppers and carrots. Things like salad, mushrooms, green beans, asparagus. Forget it. Coleslaw is common though.

BLOGitse said…

how long did it take to settle down? (i mean time after the honeymoon period=3 months) It took us about six months to finally settle down.

what do you miss from you ‘previous life’? I missed good coffee, books and stimulating presentations and lectures where you learn something. Your brain can easily stagnate on an island.

could you live there rest of your life? why? (yes or no) 🙂 NO, but 3 months/year YES

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